Chamber and committees

The Fairer Scotland Action Plan, published in October 2016, set out 50 concrete actions the Scottish Government will take over this parliamentary term to reduce poverty and tackle inequality.

Many of these are expected to have a positive impact for those who are in work but on low incomes. These include, for example, tackling the poverty premium, reducing child poverty, introducing a Job Grant for young people returning to the workplace after six months unemployed, supporting people to work more flexibly when they want to, working with a range of partners to help people to claim the benefits they are entitled to, and improving employment services for disabled people.

The Scottish Government has committed to reporting annually on progress against the 50 actions and to produce new actions in the second half of this parliamentary term.

The Scottish Government’s digital participation campaign “Let’s Get Online” encourages older people to take those first steps to getting online by offering support and promoting the benefits of using digital devices. Since 2014 the campaign has carried out 133 days of activity in 149 locations across Scotland including Shetland, Orkney and Western Isles.

Supported by local TV and radio, we provided a roadshow of free, face to face internet taster sessions signposting people to training in their local area. Around 37,000 people have been given practical help and advice which has contributed to a 10% increase in the number of older people who access the internet.

The trunk road operating companies are contractually required to examine all domestic animals found dead on the trunk road and motorway network for any identifying features, including scanning for microchips. The Police are then notified of any identifying features, together with a brief description of the animal. Where possible, the operating company will attempt to contact the owner of the animal, and will keep the carcass of any domestic animal for a period of two weeks, in case the owner wishes to claim their pet.

Tracing owners of deceased cats can be problematic as very few domestic cats are micro-chipped or have collars with the owner’s details, making it virtually impossible to trace an owner. There is currently no legislation requiring domestic cats to have such identification, and this would be difficult to enforce. Dealing with deceased cats found on local roads is a matter for local authorities.

The Scottish Government's review of personal and social education will consult with a wide range of key stakeholders, including children and young people and teachers. Initial scoping work has commenced and we will announce further details in due course.

The Scottish Government is working with a wide range of stakeholders to take forward a £3.5million programme of work to achieve the ten commitments set out in the Strategic Framework for Action on Palliative and End of Life Care (SFA).

The National Implementation Advisory Group (NIAG), which includes representatives from health, social care, independent and third sectors, supports and advises on the implementation of the SFA and improvement actions at both local and national levels.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is an international agreement to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. CITES is reserved to the UK Government. CITES applies to the import of ivory, rhino horns and other materials from endangered species.

Police Scotland, working in partnership with the UK Border Force, are responsible for enforcing the law on CITES in Scotland.

The Scottish Government does not directly provide support to wildlife attractions to help them maintain security against break-ins. Police Scotland, Local Authorities, Community Safety Partnerships and their local partners work to raise awareness, for all business sectors, of the measures that can be adopted by individual businesses to improve security, safety and resilience.

Advice and guidance to businesses in dealing with various crimes can be found on the Police Scotland website: http://www.scotland.police.uk/keep-safe/246633/

Work is being undertaken at the Scottish Government’s Scottish Advice for Science and Agriculture (SASA) on international projects to develop resources for DNA-based species identification in illegally traded species such as rhinos and pangolin. SASA are also co-organising the Society for Wildlife Forensic Sciences international conference in Edinburgh in June. This event will bring together wildlife forensic scientists, law enforcement officers and policy-makers from around the world.

The Scottish Government also provides funding to the National Wildlife Crime Unit, based in Stirling, which provides investigative support across all UK police forces to tackle wildlife crime.

The total number of legal abortions performed in Scotland on women who are normally resident in the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland during the period 2013 to 2015 was 5.

As the numbers of legal abortions performed in Scotland on women who are normally resident in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in each of the last three years are very small, we are unable to provide a further breakdown of this figure to the risk of disclosing personally identifiable information.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-07971 on 22 March 2017. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx”